We found that some stores charge far higher prices as their competitors for identical eyeglass frames and lenses. For contacts (with exam and fitting), price differences were even larger. Our ratings show how area outlets stacked up on price.

You'll find thousands of choices of eyeglasses frames. But most of this variety is an illusion. The lion’s share of eyeglasses on the market come from just a few Italian companies with names you probably won’t recognize: Marcolin, Safilo, Luxottica.

Buying glasses or contacts requires the services of an ophthalmologist, an optometrist, or an optician. If you’re like most of us, you can’t remember which of these “three Os” does what, even if you’ve been told a dozen times. So here it is again.